HMS Perseus was a British "Parthian" class submarine built in 1929 and sunk in 1941 during World War II.
At the beginning of the war, it operated under the command of Commander Peter Bartlett as part of the 4th Submarine Flotilla. This continued until August 1940, when he was reassigned to the Mediterranean, transporting supplies between Alexandria and the besieged island of Malta. In this, it underwent a reconditioning from October to April 1941.
The submarine sailed from Malta to Alexandria on November 26, 1941 with instructions to patrol the waters east of Greece during its passage through them. It apparently torpedoed a ship on December 3, but at 10 p.m. on December 6 it struck an Italian mine off Kefalonia, 7 miles north of Zakynthos in the Ionian Sea.
Of the 61 men on board, only one survived who was not part of the crew and who boarded in Alexandria, 31-year-old John Capes. He and three others escaped the submarine using the "Twill Trunk" escape hatch in the engine room and wearing the "Davis Submerged Escape Device", used by the Royal Navy to escape from a sunken submarine and ascend through a hatch while avoiding the dangers of decompression. However, only he survived the ascent to the surface and the five miles that he had to swim to the island of Kefalonia, where he was hidden by the islanders.
THE IMMERSION. The wreck currently lies at -52 meters at its deepest point and was discovered in 1997 by Greek diver Kostas Thoctarides and his team. The Perseus is at the bottom of the sea heeled to port. On the port side, near the bow, there is a crack caused by its collision with the mine. That is the only significant damage to the ship. The rest of his helmet is in good condition. His gun, his rudder, and everything else are in place. Her compasses, which are still working, are showing their last course and the aft compartment escape hatch is open. Near Perseus, divers found the anchor of an Italian mine; A discovery that seems to confirm that a mine explosion was the cause of its collapse. The British authorities assumed it, but it had never been confirmed.